More and more people express in a more liberated ways identifying themselves in terms of fashion clothing, tattoos, make-ups, piercings, and other in other ways. It could have been this propagated after the hippy revolution of the 60’s where the generations of then young people have conveyed a desire of a less restricted environment which involved clothing and other physically attributable marks. But on the course of popularity decline of the movement, there comes a generation that speaks about freedom yet imposing greater sense of social responsibility clinging to liberty of expression a rather calling in a personal level.
Tattoo has been one of the most famous marks of which one person may adapt to express him/ her and it has become a major issue these days in the corporate setting. Tattoos though considered to be a modern art these days still give a rather taboo impression on many. There are corporation who bans people from working with a baring tattoo on the body and concealing of disturbing tattoo signs are discouraged. The society today may still have some remnants of the old connotation of tattoos and they would stick to that mentality as long as majority of people began changing their outlook on this issue.
Tattoo in the workplace is becoming an issue not just in many corporate offices and companies but also in the medical world. The issue ranges from the morality of the body tattoos to the skills of the nurse or a doctor who had one. Other practitioners asserted that because of the nature of their profession – that is advancing health and promoting better physical care – tattoos is simply a no-no. Tattoos are viewed by some as a dirty thing or untidy so are clean
medical scrubs and well kept nursing uniforms. Even in the Navy, which would somehow in its plain thought eventually allow tattoos in medical staff are somehow has varying opinion on the matter.
Students on the other hand are being cautious about the desire to have tattoos as more and more universities are imposing no-tattoos on incoming nursing students. One of the many colleges that bans tattoo for nursing students is the Missouri Southern State University. In a report in News Tribune, Rod Surber a school representative has been quoted asserting about their reason for imposing said rule. He said it is for the future.
"Essentially, the reason for the policy is because some hospitals have a policy against tattooing," Surber said as quoted in News Tribune. "We have to meet the highest standards so we can place our students in any institution."
This reason has impeded some students who wished to pursue a degree in nursing and dreams of someday donning their most loved medical scrubs. But it seems too that the reasoning of the MSSU is in congruent with some hospitals when Vanderbilt University Medical Center imposes similar rule on tattoos and appropriate clothing. To clarify, MSSU only prohibits or discourage visible tattoos.
In view of the conflicting interests and the parties affected, issues about tattoo can only be solved by laying out specific ruling and an assertion of the real objective of the rule. While many students disagree with how schools and hospitals rule on the matter, it should also be their responsibility to retain the dignity of the profession by simply following the rule. At the end of the day expression is just part of it, but not the main objective in nursing or the medical profession.
